Hot Water Heaters

[alldodge]

Lets discuss HWH and maintenance

Going to replace the HWH again, and main reason is its about 12 years old and I want to.

Have a GE hybrid in the house and standard electric vacation house (replacing this one)

Been doing some more reading and should probably have replaced the anode, but never have in any of them. Says to check them every 2 years and replace when needed (3 to 5 years). Most anodes are aluminum but magnesium is said to be better an will also not put aluminum in the water we drink.

I flush the tank every so many years if I think about it (not very often), I connect a hose to the drain and let the hot water pour out of it for maybe 5 minutes into a nearby drain. The wright ups on the net says to shut power off, close cold water valve, open hot water valve in tube or sink, and then let it drain until clear. Why shut everything down when you can just open the valve and let it go?

Paid high dollar for the hybrid but it only has a 10 year warranty. Would need to remove the covers on top to even get at the anodes, but figure I should do that.

All the water heaters last about as long except the Rheem marathon because the tank is not steel.

 

[poconojoe]

Yeah, I'm guilty of not flushing enough. I've done it, but very rare. My recent one is getting close to 2 years and I think I'd better check the anode. I'm not sure why you should shut everything down before flushing, if that's your question here. My guess would be so that any sediment on the bottom would drain better when not being disturbed by the in-rush of cold water supply.
Since we're on the subject, anyone I know that has switched to the tankless on demand units give them a plus opinion.
Oh, and don't take this wrong, I'm just joking because I'm guilty of this too...it's not a hot water heater, it's a water heater. If the water was already hot, we wouldn't have to heat it! LOL:lol:

 

[Scott Danforth]

I drained my water heater when I first bought the house in 2008. the WH is original to the house (1999). It would take me about 3 hours to move everything in the garage in front of it to do it again (really need to build that shed). I am as guilty as anyone knowing what should be done for home maintenance vs actually doing it.

I was taught by my grandfather (Master plumber) to hook a hose up and run it out the drain. he usually killed power to the water heater just so the elements were not trying to heat water going out the drain.

 

[alldodge]

Sounds like we all do it the same way, at least when we do it.

Still need to look at the anodes

Then decide if I get a cheaper one or spend more money. The basic WH are the same just how many anodes are installed. My previous house I installed one with a stainless steel tank

There is a site which goes in depth to discussion about the WH and issues

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/Longevity/water-heater-anodes.html

 

[dingbat]

Got ambitious one day and drained the hot water tank as preventative maintenance.

Mistake....... drain never sealed properly after that. Had to buy a new hot water heater to remediate the problem.

Built the house in 1990. The first hot water heater went 10 years before I "drained" it. It's replacement is still in use as far as I'm aware.

Installed a new (bigger) tank in our current house 8 years ago. No intention of "maintaining" it either.

 

[alldodge]

Got ambitious one day and drained the hot water tank as preventative maintenance.

Mistake....... drain never sealed properly after that. Had to buy a new hot water heater to remediate the problem.

In the link above there is a page which discusses it. In brief, says that if it is not drained very often then when it is opened the crud does come out, some of it gets stuck in the valve. The fix, is remove the valve and replace with ball valve or flush more often.

I still think just opening the valve under pressure is the way to go. If stuff gets caught in it, then just open again and again until clear.

Installed a new (bigger) tank in our current house 8 years ago. No intention of "maintaining" it either.

Might wind up doing the same thing myself

 

[gm280]

I change our Hot Water Heater lol, because it started leaking. And since it was 18 years old (yea the just don't make them like they used to), I didn't even try to figure out where the leak was. I went to Lowe's to buy the replacement. And they had the exact same water heater there, but now only a 6 year warranty instead of the 9 year warranty of the old one. In order to get the NEW 9 year version, I had to pay about $150 more. But the only difference between the two was one had a digital readout display that you could change the settings from the panel. I told them once I set the water heater up, I have never ever had to change it. So I wasn't buying a digital panel for the money. The salesman said he would do the same and that the digital versions had a lot of failures simply for the digital panel. Go figure!

 

[alldodge]

Your probably correct but the net says the differences (in most cases) is the longer the warranty the more anodes have been installed. Unable to say for sure but when I go look at a replacement, I'll try to see if that is true

 

[bigdee]

That $150 is for 3 more years warranty plus an idiotic digital control on the same tank! This may be hard to believe but my house has two WHs one is 50 gallon and the other is a 40.....they are both 47 years old. I am on well water, tanks have never been drained or anodes replaced. I have replaced just one element in 47 years of daily use.

 

[poconojoe]

That $150 is for 3 more years warranty plus an idiotic digital control on the same tank! This may be hard to believe but my house has two WHs one is 50 gallon and the other is a 40.....they are both 47 years old. I am on well water, tanks have never been drained or anodes replaced. I have replaced just one element in 47 years of daily use.

47 years! Don't make them like they used to is an understatement! And on well water! Phenomenal! Hope you never have to replace them because you'll never get ones like that again.
I'm on central water in Mount Pocono, PA and have a whole house filter. My house was built in late 1996 and went through 7 Amtrol Boiler Mate water heaters. They were all warrantied. When the 7th one started leaking from the bottom (like the previous 6) Amtrol bought me out and told me to buy another brand! They only gave me $150. Those things are $1,200.

 

[bigdee]

47 years! Don't make them like they used to is an understatement! And on well water! Phenomenal! Hope you never have to replace them because you'll never get ones like that again.
I'm on central water in Mount Pocono, PA and have a whole house filter. My house was built in late 1996 and went through 7 Amtrol Boiler Mate water heaters. They were all warrantied. When the 7th one started leaking from the bottom (like the previous 6) Amtrol bought me out and told me to buy another brand! They only gave me $150. Those things are $1,200.

I really believe chlorinated water is bad. We all know it is corrosive.....chlorine is made from salt and turns back into salt after it breaks down. Also city water pressure is usually higher than a well system which can lead to metal fatigue.

 

[alldodge]

they are both 47 years old. I am on well water,

Well water is probably the reason because the pressure is low. Louisville water pressure is about 80 psi and in the country its 125 and I have it reduced to 80 with a PRV

 

[bigdee]

Well water is probably the reason because the pressure is low. Louisville water pressure is about 80 psi and in the country its 125 and I have it reduced to 80 with a PRV

In my neighborhood everyone was on well water until the county ran public water out here. I stayed on well water but the rest of my neighbors tied into the public water because they offered a one-time reduced installation fee. Within 2 years I started to see WH failures.....some on tanks less than 5 years old. The increased pressure PLUS the required check valve (anti-drainback) caused fluctuations in pressure as WH cycled through its temperature range. That constant fluctuation in pressure inside of tank eventually led to metal fatigue causing tank to crack/split. Without a check valve the increasing pressure from constantly re-heating the water is pushed back to its source. Installing a small air bladder tank will alleviate this somewhat. The thickness of newer tanks is less than older tanks and the quality of the steel (Chinese) is questionable.

 

[poconojoe]

I really believe chlorinated water is bad. We all know it is corrosive.....chlorine is made from salt and turns back into salt after it breaks down. Also city water pressure is usually higher than a well system which can lead to metal fatigue.

I never thought of it that way. You make perfect sense. I was thinking the other way where well water wasn't as "pure or clean" and this causing failures. I stand corrected! Plus the lower pressure of well water makes sense too.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Growing up in the 80's, I worked for my grandfather as I was young...dumb... and had a strong back to help remove water heaters.

They sure dont make them like they used to. we used to remove 60 - 80 year old "Manitowoc" water heaters which had about 300# of copper in them. to get them out of a basement, we had to dissect them into small enough pieces to carry. we would then separate the sheet metal covers from the copper core and turn it in.... often making more money on the scrap than on the job. Most were replaced because they were inefficient and huge.... however they were still working. Most were installed in the basements along with the coal or gas fired furnaces prior to the house being built

now those old water heaters are museum pieces.

 

[bruceb58]

Well water is probably the reason because the pressure is low. Louisville water pressure is about 80 psi and in the country its 125 and I have it reduced to 80 with a PRV

Even 80 is on the high side. Ours is run much lower. We had a problem with some of the faucet valves leaking in our house and found the PR had failed.

 

[alldodge]

I grew up with pressure being around 80, and really like the shower you get with it.

When we moved to our current spot I installed a 3/4 PRV and adjusted to 80. The issue then was the 3/4 was not able to keep the flow rate of a 3/4 line and pressure would drop further. So removed the 3/4 and got a 1 inch PRV. With the 1 it keeps the flow eate up and pressure stable.

Thought about dropping pressure down a tad, but sure like my morning shower, and have not had any more issues then other houses I've lived in. Think 75 should do fine, and maybe I'll adjust :noidea: